Table of Contents February 2006

Truck-mounted hoists account for a healthy portion of the American truck accessory market. According to Stephen Latin-Kasper, director of market data and research for the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA), an estimated $75 million to $80 million worth of truck-mounted hoists were sold in...

The historic city of Alexandria, Va., is abandoning its outdated hard-copy utility maps in favor of up-to-date sanitary, storm, and combined sewer geographic information system (GIS) maps created in the field, in real time.

Bottled water is big business Since the mid-1990s, the market for Evian and other brands has boomed in the United States and around the world. Even soft-drink companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola have jumped on the aquatic bandwagon, supplementing their product lines with their own successful brands...

The RXT is the latest in the company's line of heavy pickups. It has a payload capacity of up to 6 tons, can tow up to 7 ¾ tons in a variety of tow configurations, and has a drivetrain up to 300 hp. The truck has a 4x2 crew cab, 8-foot pickup bed, and aero front and rear bumpers. Operators can...

Crawling through several hundred feet of an active storm sewer pipe can help make up your mind about approving it. When Jeff Martin, P.E., materials engineer for the Kansas City, Mo. (KCMO), public works department, got a look at high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe from the inside out, he was...

Waste diversion is a buzzword across the country, and we're not just talking plastic and glass anymore. Green waste is being composted and re-used in increasing amounts in many municipalities, and many are doing it as part of their normal waste collection.

Many areas within Florida's Orange County contain secondary outfalls that discharge into landlocked lakes. The county has no easement agreement or right of way (ROW) for these outfalls, which historically conveyed floodwater from upstream areas where most of the stormwater system predates...

With the push to be competitive, public works managers are finding themselves debating whether privatization is the way to efficiency and accountability—while responding to growing service demands. Common to just about every utility manager is the desire to face these challenges strategically.

A lot of action occurs at an intersection. Cars and trucks speed in from all directions, stopping, turning, changing lanes. Introducing other variables—such as poor visibility, bad weather, inadequate signage, and human error—to these hubs of activity leads to a recipe for disaster.

David versus Goliath. Efficient versus ineffective. Weak versus strong. This is how many people may compare small towns to large cities. Small towns' public works departments have small staffs, less red tape, and fewer political problems while big cities have large bureaucracies, more money, and...

My home is on a dirt road about a mile outside of the tiny town of Lyons, Colo. My “neighbors” are an independent bunch who raise goats and build their own homes. Typical of people who live in the country, far from cities and towns, they are relatively self-sufficient. We have our own...